Tom Tripp, Guest Columnist
The Bible tells us a couple of fundamental truths that have a great impact on how we choose to live: We are made in the image of God (Genesis 1:26-27) and God is love (1 John 4:8). When we put these two truths together, we see that we were made for love. We are made to receive love and we are made to give love.
When Morrie Schwartz was dying of ALS, Mitch Albom spent time with him every Tuesday. Albom wrote of those weekly visits in his book Tuesdays with Morrie. About one visit, Albom recorded Morrie’s advice on love: “‘The most important thing in life is to learn how to give out love, and to let it come in.’ His voice dropped to a whisper. ‘Let it come in. We think we don’t deserve love; we think if we let it in we’ll become too soft. But a wise man named Levine said it right. He said, “Love is the only rational act.”’ He repeated it carefully, pausing for effect. ‘“Love is the only rational act.”’”
If we hope to give love out, we must be open to taking love in. Without receiving love, we having nothing to give.
If we do not, in turn, give love away, we become putrid inside. As Harry Emerson Fosdick expresses it, “The Sea of Galilee and the Dead Sea are made of the same water. It flows down, clear and cool, from the heights of Hermon and the roots of the cedars of Lebanon. The Sea of Galilee makes beauty of it, for the Sea of Galilee has an outlet. It gets to give. It gathers in its riches that it may pour them out again to fertilize the Jordan plain. But the Dead Sea, with the same water, makes horror. For the Dead Sea has no outlet. It gets to keep.” Love must be received and given away.
Leo Buscaglia advises, “Don’t spend your precious time asking, ‘Why isn’t the world a better place?’ It will only be time wasted. The question to ask is, ‘How can I make it better?’ To that question, there is an answer.” The answer is to let love in to your life then give it away.
Jon Gordon recommends a “Positivity Pledge,” which is, in essence, a pledge to love: “I pledge to be a positive person and a positive influence on my family, friends, co-workers and community. I promise to be positively contagious and share more smiles, laughter, encouragement and joy with those around me. I vow to stay positive in the face of negativity. When I am surrounded by pessimism, I will choose optimism. When I feel fear, I will choose faith. When I want to hate, I will choose love. When I want to be bitter, I will choose to get better. When I experience a challenge, I will look for opportunity to learn and grow. When faced with adversity, I will find strength. When I experience a set-back, I will be resilient. When I meet failure, I will fail forward towards future success…. I believe I’m here for a reason and my purpose is greater than my challenges. I believe that being positive not only makes me better, it makes everyone around me better. So today and every day I will be positive and strive to make a positive impact on the world.”■
